Ranma Returns
by moritynz
Summary: Over 60 years since Rei and Ranma left the world of Angel of Light, Rei is reborn and Ranma returns to be with her again. Only problem is she doesn't remember her past life. Chapter 3 up... Finally...
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note:** The Basic Credit for this story goes to Weebee for creating the Angel of Light universe. I have never been one for unhappy endings so my mind has been bugging me to write down its idea of an ideal future for Ranma and Rei. This was originally meant to be a 1-shot but it keeps growing so here is the first part.

**Standard Disclaimer: **I do not own the Characters, places or IP indicated in this story. The plot itself is hardly even my own. I give all credit to the Authors who created NGE and Ranma 1/2 and the Author Weebee for his own creations which inspired this.

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><p><em><strong>A bit of back story<strong>_

In the year 2042 the UN funded agency known as NERV lost its sub commander after his partner of 25 years finally succumbed to her Telomere's Degeneration. The sub commander, Ranma Saotome, and his partner Rei Ayanami were both well liked in the local community and the loss of them both on the same day came as a harsh blow to the people that knew them.

Something that was only know to a select few people though was that as long as Unit 01 was alive so too would Ranma be. The day that Ranma vanished from everyone's life was many years ago and the single technician who had been on duty to notice the decline in the units S2 engine output no longer recalled the event. It is now, over 50 years later that this tale begins.

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><p><strong>December 31st 2099<strong>

**Tokyo-3 Neo Hospital, Natal Ward**

"We need you to push Mrs Wakada!" The nurse called from the end of the birthing table, "She's crowning now, just a few more pushes and its all over!"

The woman, Mrs Itsuko Wakada, screamed in pain as she pushed the small child who had been growing inside of her for the last 9 months out of her body. Finally with a few more excruciating minutes the high pitched wail of a healthy baby replaced her own screaming and the pressure between her legs vanished.

"Congratulations, Mrs Wakada, its a healthy girl. Do you have a name in mind for her?" A nurse aide asked from beside her as the others rushed to clean and wrap the newborn child.

"We have decided on the name Rei, Rei Aya Wakada." The new mother said with a smile.

Another aide came up to the bed with a small bundle of blankets in her arms, "Would you like to hold your daughter?" Itsuko didn't bother to respond, instead she just stretched out her tired arms to hold her baby girl.

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><p><strong>January 1st, 2100<strong>

**Tokyo-3 Neo Hospital, Neo Natal rooms**

A soft glow started to form at one of the doorways into the darkened room, several children nearby stirred at the light but a soft warmth soothed them and they quickly dozed again. The light moved deeper into the room, slowly coalescing into the form of a man not seen for over 50 years, Ranma Saotome.

Ranma stopped at the edge of the cot that held the child of Itsuko Wakada, "Hello again Rei, you dont remember me but I remember you. Welcome back." He rested a hand gentle on her brow and a soft red glow formed in her stomach. Smiling lightly he turned and vanished without a sound into the shadows of the room.

Rei woke in her sleep, she would always be a quite baby, not demanding much of her parents as many others in the room she currently occupied would, but there would always be something missing, something very important. Her infant mind didnt understand what it was she felt at the moment but a warm glow in her stomach, as if she had just had a filling meal, quickly lulled her back into dreams of a fantastical time of super powered humans and great friends.

**Same time**

**Tokyo-3, Nerve HQ, Eva Monitor room**

Yumiko Ryoji grumbled to herself and her lack of luck about being stuck on a graveyard shift watching the statistics of machines that hadn't been used in almost a decade. She was running several different simulations at once, trying to push her allocated part of the new Magi systems to the limit. Her great-grandmother, Misato Ryoji, had always told her to find the limits of everything you worked with, then push them as much as you can.

She was about to increase the activity in the simulations plus add a few more functions when a shrill beep pulled her attention to a station a few seats over. Taking advantage of being alone, Yumiko pushed her chair towards the desk and stared blankly at the console for a few moments before gathering her wits and typing several commands. Quickly getting a trace on the activity Yumiko managed to narrow it down to a local hospital before the signal vanished and Unit 01 went back into its dormant state.

"I need to tell the boss about this," Pushing over to another desk she picked up a phone and waited, "put the Commander on the line, Unit 01 just activated." There was a quick moment of silence before a new voice came on the line.

"Whats the situation Lieutenant?"

"Unit one activated long enough for me to get a trace on the projection to a local Hospital, it has gone back to sleep though now sir." Yumiko reported.

"Send the details to my desk, Lieutenant."

"Yes sir, they are already on their way." Yumiko said as she hit the enter button on her keyboard.

"Very good, oh and Lieutenant."

"Yes sir?"

"This never happened, tell no one, especially your family." The commanders voice demanded obedience.

"Of course sir." She replied before returning the phone to its hook. "Well thats my excitement of the year over, I wonder when we will see another spike?" Yumiko then spent the rest of her shift day-dreaming about the stories Grandmother Misato had been so fond of telling.

**December 26th 2116**

**Tokyo-3, Sohryu Dedication Mall**

Despite being a rather quite girl by nature, Rei Wakada had managed to gain some strong friends in her 15 years of life. Currently she was at the local mall with them celebrating the Christmas holidays by taking full advantage of the Boxing day sales. It was also a good chance for the three girls to scope out the boys. Over all Rei was enjoying herself greatly.

Her friend Asuka, who looked nothing like the fiery red head who had commanded Nerv after the events that had led to Tokyo-3 being rebuilt, again. Was currently perched on a small wall drinking a coke and watching the crowd like a hawk.

"Aw man there is never any decent talent in this town. How is a girl supposed to find a man if they are all either too wimpy or too full of themselves?" She griped for the umpteenth time that day.

"Like I keep saying Asuka, your looking to hard. Something as special as love doesn't just fall out of the sky, its something that is worked on by both parties." Their friend Suzuka lectured once again.

Rei just smiled at the pair as they fell once again into their years old argument. It was an interesting thing to watch, they would snipe back and forth for several minutes until one managed a suitable quick remark and the other would concede the point, for a time. Oddly enough, Rei was yet to hear them repeat a Fight Stopper, as she had come to call the quick remarks that signaled the end of their banter.

This time though it wasn't a quick remark but rather a call of "Look out below!" that called and end to their debate. Rei looked up in time to catch a young man who had sailed off the level above directly on top of her.

"Oh jeeze, im sorry, I was..." The young boy stopped as he got a look at Rei's face and seemed captured by her crimson eyes. A call from above broke the spell and made him look back up to spot several men in suits point down to him. "Crap, you better come with me else they will probably nab you as well." With that the boy dragged a stunned Rei to her feet and hauled her in the direction of the malls exit.

The pair ran hand in hand, leaving two stunned teens behind. Shouts and the sounds of people pushing their way through the crowd behind them quickly started to follow as the strange men in black started after them both.

"Why are we running!" Rei called to the boy who was leading her.

"Because I showed up in a stupid place and they will have all sorts of annoying questions. Now that I have gone and landed on you they will probably think your with me." the boy replied over his shoulder.

"But you dragging me with you made me be with you!" She replied hotly and pulled her hand out of his, "Running is only making it worse. Whats so bad about being asked some questions?" Coming to a stop she fixed her eyes on the boy and tried to not blink.

Turning to look at her the boy blushed as theirs eyes met. He put a hand behind his head and scratched the base of his pigtail. Opening his mouth he tried to speak but no words came out so he looked at his feet to try and gain some composure.

"Sorry it was a spur of the moment thing, im not very good at thinking stuff like this through. Sorry 'bout this." He looked back at her and smiled shyly.

"Ok fine, do you know this town at all or are you running blindly?" Rei asked surprising herself. She didnt normally talk to people outside of her comfort zone, this certainly was well outside of that description.

"Im kinda new to town, I was here once years ago but its changed heaps so I dont know where im going." He looked at her, obviously wondering what she was getting at.

"Well follow me then, I grew up around here so I know all the best hiding spots." Rei grabbed his hand and started to pull the startled boy along behind her.

The pair ran through several alleys and took shortcuts that Ranma wouldn't have even considered before ending up in a rather expansive park. Slowing from their hectic pace to an easy walk the two continued deeper into the park eventually finding a nice shady spot under a tree.

"Now are you going to tell me who you are and why we just spent the last ten minutes running from men in suits?" Rei turned on the boy shortly after catching her breath.

"Your really out of shape aint ya?" The boy asked with a smirk.

"Thats not what I asked nor any of your business, now whats going on here?" Rei huffed, trying desperately to calm her heart.

"My name is Ranma, and I have no idea what those guys in the suits are about, I got into town and they started to chase me. I had to find someone so I decided to leg it rather than be held up," Ranma admitted, "do you mind if I ask your name, I dont think you mentioned it?"

"Im Rei," She held her hand out in greeting, "its a pleasure to meet you Ranma, I love my friends but boy hunting just doesnt appeal to me. Do you mind if I ask who you were looking for? I may know her."

"Ah it dont matter, she wont remember me anyway, we met years and years ago. Feels like its been a lifetime." Ranma seemed a little sad at the thought an Rei felt a compulsion in her gut to try and cheer the boy up.

"I dont know how any girl could forget you Ranma, especially if you introduce yourself by falling on them and then drag them on a random escape." Rei laughed.

Ranma for his part was excited, the body was slightly different and the mind was obviously not the emotionally repressed one he had fallen in love with 100 years ago but the Aura was the same. The soul was her, he had found Rei again at last but all the memories were gone. The thought that she didnt remember their times together finally hit home and was not an easy pill to swallow.

"Yeah I guess maybe she hasn't after all. I better get going Rei, I will see ya around. Take care." Ranma jumped to his feet and ran from Rei for all he was worth, hoping his emotional barriers would stay up long enough that he could shed some tears in private. Before he could get very far from the park though a small group of men in black suits stepped onto the path in front of him.

"You have spoken with the first child?" One man said.

"Yeah I spoke with her, she doesn't remember me. I guess the boss has some questions about why im awake now?" Ranma asked sullenly.

"We all understand that we can't force you to come with us but we would appreciate some of your time sub-commander Saotome." The same man replied.

"Alright, I will need a place to stay as well, I am not going to leave her again." Ranma said as he walked forward to join the men heading towards a large car sitting further down the road.

"We have already taken the liberty of arranging for rooms to be prepared at the Ikari complex. Would you like to be enrolled in the same school as the first child as well sir?"

"Yeah, im going to grow up and die like a normal human this time, wake me when we get there I have something to do." Ranma ordered as he sat back in the car.

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><p><strong>There will be more to this story sooner or later, please leave a review giving more ideas on how you think I should develop it. Since I post as I write my grammar sucks but the story will be able to take in ideas from its readers.<strong>

**Ja Ne**

**Mority**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Note:** The Basic Credit for this story goes to Weebee for creating the Angel of Light universe. I have never been one for unhappy endings so my mind has been bugging me to write down its idea of an ideal future for Ranma and Rei. This was originally meant to be a 1-shot but it keeps growing so here is the second part.

**Standard Disclaimer: **I do not own the Characters, places or IP indicated in this story. The plot itself is hardly even my own. I give all credit to the Authors who created NGE and Ranma 1/2 and the Author Weebee for his own creations which inspired this.

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><p><strong>January 20th 2117<strong>

**Tokyo-3, Municipal High School #2**

Ranma walked up to the school gates along with the other students who were returning from their holidays. Slowing to take a decent look at the buildings that he would be spending a good ammount of his time in, he smiled at the memories their familiar look brought to mind.

Grabbing a passing students attention Ranma asked after directions to the registration office. The student looked him over and smiled at his lack of uniform before giving him the directions he needed. Thanking the younger boy Ranma started forward when he was interrupted by a quickly approaching presence.

Taking a step to the side in time to make the figure of Rei stumble past him when she did not meet the expected resistance of his back. She turned and gave him an indignant glare for avoiding her spear tackle before giving him a quick smile.

"Hey Ranma, I didn't expect to see you again after the park." She greeted him after recovering herself.

"Yea, gonna be in town for a while so figured I should go to school, hang out with kids my own age an' stuff." Ranma replied with a quick smirk.

"You want me to show you around? Introduce you to some people?"

"Sure, but first I got to register at the office, you can come with if you got time." Ranma said with a smile.

"I have to get to class, im class rep so need to make sure everything is ready," Rei replied before running off, "see ya later Ranma."

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><p>Finally arriving at the registration office Ranma found he only needed to sign a couple of forms before he was given his class number and a bag of supplies. The office staff were very quick and effective, Ranma was wondering why until they started to call him 'sir'.<p>

"This is a Nerv funded school then I take it?" Ranma asked one of the staff.

"Yes sir, Nerv owns all the schools in Tokyo-3, we use the medical data to try and find potential pilots and the academic courses have a heavy science side to them."

"Then what about the security officers and other more physical aspects of Nerv?" Ranma found himself asking.

"The students who either lack the ability in those are encouraged along the martial arts, military history and other aspects which gets them ready for a life of a security officer or physically conditions them to take on a manual labour job."

"You guys have really thought this out huh?"

"Commander Sohryu and yourself laid the groundwork sir, we have just done what we could to make sure we are ready."

"Ready for what exactly?"

"Your return sir. Commander Sohryu knew you would return and set plans in motion to make sure that we were ready for whatever brought you back."

"Rei brought me back, nothing else." Ranma replied evenly, inside he was amazed that Asuka had done so much.

"Commander Sohryu was a great believer that where you went trouble was sure to follow sir."

"Sheesh, I should never have told her about my time in Nerima." Ranma groused.

"Your life is well documented sir. Major Shinji wrote a book about you shortly after you left, its quite the popular story amongst the general population." The teacher said with a smile.

"I will have to give it a read one day, can you arrange to have it dropped off at my place?" At the teachers nod Ranma turned to leave, "Oh and while im in the school grounds im a student so drop the sir."

"Of course Mr Saotome."

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><p>"Class we have a new student with us today, he has just recently returned to Tokyo-3, please come and introduce yourself." The homeroom teacher took a step to the side to let Ranma take his place at the blackboard.<p>

"Hi there, my name is Ranma Saotome, im a martial artist and have just come back to Tokyo-3 after a long time away, its good to be home." Ranma bowed to the class and then returned to his own seat near the back.

He could feel the other students eyes on him as he walked between the desks, he knew they were just itching to ask if he was related to the Ranma Saotome of Nerv and didn't want to lie to them. He couldn't, however, figure out a reliable cover story for the life of him.

Rei was staring at him intently, her crimson eyes seeing him for the first time. She knew more of this Ranma than her classmates and as such was putting all the bits together. She hadn't really believed all the amazing stories that were circulating of the young man during the days of the original Nerv but seeing him here now and guess about who the men in black suits were, the stories took a new light.

As Ranma sat at his desk and activated the laptop that was built into the desk. Logging into his account he was quickly flooded with a couple dozen emails all asking if he was actually _that _Ranma Saotome.

Only one email wasn't asking him if he was the same person and it came from the one person who he had hoped wouldnt figure it out.

_To: Ranma S._

_From: Rei W._

_So thats why you were running from the spooks in black? Nerv agents trying to speak with their Sub-commander? I will keep it secret if you want, but you better have a good cover story for who you are._

_Talk to you at lunch. ^_^_

_Rei_

He shot a quick look around the room, almost every student was watching him in the corner of their eyes. Rei on the other hand had her attention focused on the teacher and what he was explaining to the class. Figuring that it was probably best that people didn't know of his ties to Nerv for now, he decided to deny the interest by claiming to be related, distantly, but not him.

The rest of the morning went by without incident. The math was easy, given he had shared a mind with Yui Ikari for several months, some of her knowledge had rubbed off. English was boring since he had mastered the language during his travels after second impact, his accent was terrible though.

P.E turned out to be more interesting than he had anticipated, he was absurdly out of practise with his own physical for which made him perform only slightly better than the other boys in his class. Ranma made a mental note to spend several days properly familiarising himself with how 17year old human limbs move.

He should have done it before school started again for the term but the new Commander of Nerv had pushed him hard for answers he didn't have and made him work, claiming her had 60 years of backlogged paperwork to sort through. He chuckled at the memory of Maya Ikari's face when he had presented himself to her.

After P.E came lunch, something Ranma had been looking forward too greatly. He had cooked his own lunch that morning and it was his normal titanic proportions. Sitting beneath a tree Ranma opened his lunchbox and began to consume it with gusto when a shadow blocked what little light the tree let through.

Looking up Ranma saw three boys about his age standing over him, obviously trying to loom. Ranma decided to finish his mouthful before asking what they wanted. The front boy spoke first.

"You Ranma Saotome?" He asked in what Ranma guessed was a tough guy voice.

"That depends on who's asking? Do I know you? Do I want too?" Ranma replied with an easy smirk. He set his lunch down and stood to face the three bullies.

"Im Takahashi and im the boss of this school. Normally I wouldnt introduce myself so personal like, but since you is a Saotome I decided to make a special case of it." Takahashi growled out, once again in his best impression of a tough guy voice.

"So let me get this straight?" Ranma leaned back against the tree and started to idly play with his chopsticks, "You came over here, to try and intimidate me? You know if I were actually _The _Ranma Saotome, you would be in for a world of hurt right about now." He smirked again and rolled his shoulders.

The two boys behind Takahashi started to look nervous, Takahashi just looked more beligerant.

"How about you run along before you find out for yourself if I deserve the name Saotome?"

Takahashi grunted and made to punch Ranma but the fist never connected. Using quick precise movements Ranma shifted the bullies momentum downwards while twisting the offending limb behind the boy. A quick kick to his now unstable legs plus the momentum from the punch and Takahashi found himself face first in the dirt and unable to move.

The two flunkies made to move and help their leader but a quick movement by Ranma and they were both slapped in the face by a flying chopstick.

"Now what I want you to do is to go out and dissolve your network, this school is now under the protection of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Just because im not the Ranma Saotome from the stories does not mean I dont know his school. Now scram." Ranma shoved Takahashi as he released his lock and returned to his lunch while the trio ran away.

"Wow Ranma, you really live up to the name dont you." A familiar voice piped from behind the tree.

Ranma looked around to see Rei leaning against the tree smiling at him.

"Mind if I join you?" She sat down facing him and pulled a lunchbox of her own out of her bag. "Did you not consider maybe using a different last name while at school?"

"It will come out eventually anyway so this way im only being a little dishonest, I dont want to be but I would rather they didnt start questioning the science behind it. Since I dont really understand it myself." He grinned at her.

"Fair enough, what are your plans for after school? The girls and I were going to the arcade for a snack, want to come?" Rei asked between mouthfuls.

Ranma looked at her oddly, not only was the body different from his memory but she was also significantly more forward and open than her previous life. It was depressing in a way to see the woman he loved to be so different and not remember their time together. He resolved to be the best friend he could and let no harm come to her. It was the least he could do too honor her memory.

"Sure sounds good, what kind of snacks?" Ranma asked, his interest in food always active.

"The arcade has an excellent Ice Cream palor, good prices and they always give students the best scoops." Her eyes took on a slightly glazed look and Ranma couldnt help but chuckle at the similarity between this Rei and her past life.

"What are you laughing at, sir?" Rei asked in a teasing tone.

"Just the similarities between you and your name sake," Ranma replied with an easy smile, "she used to get a dreamy look on her face when she talked about ice cream too, which was weird considering she had trouble showing emotion." Ranma laughed again at the memories.

"You loved her very much didn't you?"

"More than life itself, but I cant stay in Unit 01 for all of eternity, its time for me to live life like I should have done, she would have wanted it that way." He smiled sadly and Rei figured that silence would be the best answer. They stayed sitting there until the bell rang to signal the end of lunch.

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><p>After school Rei, Ranma, Asuka and Suzuka left the grounds as a group heading towards the local shopping arcade. The girls gossiped amongst themselves and Ranma let the positive feelings flow around him. He was glad he had returned to the physical world, the people and the emotions that flew around everyone at all times of the day were an amazing thing to feel after 60 years in a semi-dormant state.<p>

Finally arriving at their destination the girls quickly found a seat and waited eagerly for the waiter to come see their table. While they waited Asuka decided to grill Ranma about his past, he gave as few actual answers as possible, thankful for his time as sub-commander under his Asuka and the ability to deflect questions he had picked up then.

Normally Ranma would have taken his female form to eat ice cream but shifting forms for such a silly thing, especially since he had promised himself a normal school life, would have spoiled the occasion. As the waited cam over for their order the interrogation came to and end and the girls started to take the menu very seriously.

As the waiter left with their orders the topic of discussion turned to the new school term. The three girls animatedly discussed topics that Ranma had once thought only deserved his snores. He sat back and let their talk wash over him, taking in bits and pieces of their insight about certain teachers, topics and students in equal measure.

Eventually the waiter returned with all their deserts and left the four teens to devour them in silence. Each girl had an expression of bliss as the slowly ate the small mountains of confection they had bought while Ranma ate his at the same pace he noticed that the taste seemed to be lacking.

_'It really does taste better when im a girl I guess.' _He thought to himself.

As the ice creams started to shrink down to nothing conversation started up again, this time about clothing. Ranma tuned out the majority of the talk and focused on the taste of his chocolate brownie that had been buried beneath his sundae surprise. It was Rei who shook him out of his thoughts as she hit his shoulder to get his attention.

"We asked you a question Ranma. Where abouts are you staying?" Rei asked.

"Oh, um I think it was called the Ikari Complex. Its a nice place, good view of the lakes." Ranma replied.

"Wow, you must be loaded to live there, are you sure you dont work for Nerv?" Asuka asked.

"Nah, told ya im not the guy from the stories, just an average kid." Ranma shot back with a smile.

"Your parents must be loaded then." Suzuka added her own bit to the conversation.

"Nah my dad was a layabout and my mum had enough to support the family, thats about it, I just have some good friends." Ranma deflected around the issue of his parents, even over 100years after the fact the topic of the Nerima Incident still hurt.

"Oh. Sorry, I didnt mean to pry into something so personal." Asuka said as she lowered her head, Suzuka followed her example and appologised as well.

Leaving shortly after the four teens went their own seperate ways, Asuka and Suzuka leaving Rei and Ranma to walk by themselves. The two walked together in a slightly awkard silence for a while until Ranma decided to break the ice.

"So, how did the rest of your holidays go?"

"Very well, my mother had me help her at the shop once the christmas holidays passed. She owns a small clothing store that does specialty alterations," Rei smiled brightly, "I am very handy with a needle and thread."

Ranma laughed at her boast, "You will make someone a good wife then."

"I will take that as a compliment," Rei sniffed at his humor, "this is me, I will see you tomorrow at school." With that parting shot Rei ran down a small side street.

Ranma watched her go with a small smile on his face, she wasn't the same person but he liked this new Rei as much as he had the first time he had met his Rei. She turned and saw him still standing there so she waved and ducked in through a gate which Ranma assumed was where she lived. Keeping that little bit of information in mind Ranma made his own way back home.

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><p>The sun was starting to set when he finally arrived at his apartment. He felt a presence behind him as he opened the door and ducked after pushing it forward. Quickly spinning under ther person behind him he came back to a standing position with fingers resting lightly on several pressure points.<p>

"What do you want," He hissed in the mans ear, "I have felt you following me since the ice cream shop."

"The commander sent me, sir." The man replied calmly, obviously not getting how dangerous a position he was in.

"Oh and what did she send a goon for that she couldn't tell me herself?" Ranma asked as he applied a bit more pressure with his fingers causing the man to hiss in pain.

"It was only an observation post sir but I received orders to tell you that you will be getting a flatmate in a few weeks," the man tried to shift but Ranma kept his fingers firmly locked on their points, "I wanted to see if you lived up to your name sir, which is why I didn't announce myself."

"Ok then, who will be my flatmate?" Ranma released the man and spun him around to face him.

"You will be living with the new Second Child, sir. She lost her parents in a similar fashion to Commander Sohryu and is being bought to Tokyo Branch for protection and maybe training." The goon explaind.

"Whats her name in this life?"

"Lucy, sir. Lucy Katsuragi."

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><p><strong>There will be more to this story sooner or later, please leave a review giving more ideas on how you think I should develop it. Since I post as I write my grammar sucks but the story will be able to take in ideas from its readers.<strong>

**Ja Ne**

**Mority**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Note:** The Basic Credit for this story goes to Weebee for creating the Angel of Light universe. I have never been one for unhappy endings so my mind has been bugging me to write down its idea of an ideal future for Ranma and Rei. This was originally meant to be a 1-shot but it keeps growing so here is the third part. Also I have been told that the ending I am basing this fic off is no longer up on the site so if you have no idea what I'm going on about I will ask for permission to post it as a prologue.

**Standard Disclaimer: **I do not own the Characters, places or IP indicated in this story. The plot itself is hardly even my own. I give all credit to the Authors who created NGE and Ranma 1/2 and the Author Weebee for his own creations which inspired this.

* * *

><p><strong>February 13th 2017<strong>

**Tokyo-3, Ikari Complex**

Ranma had spent the last couple of weeks attending school and avoiding Nerv business as much as possible. He had found school to be far more interesting this time around, the perspective of people 100 years on from events he had lived and participated in was refreshing. Some things he hadn't even known about were talked about like common knowledge.

It had taken him a few weeks of study to get properly caught up on all the major events since he had returned to Unit O1 and now that he could no longer properly distract himself from the impending arrival of his new flatmate he was starting to get nervous.

Deciding to do some training to let off steam, Ranma made his way to the roof of the complex. Settling into a basic stance he took a moment to achieve a focused state before moving into his kata. Slowly moving from one hit to another Ranma finally started to feel the tension flow out of his limbs. This was familiar to him. It was just as he was getting into a proper rhythm that the skies opened for a brief period above him and he became a she.

"Dammit, I thought I had gotten past this." Just as she was about to start taking her shirt off to dry, Ranma heard a voice call out below.

"Hello, Saotome-san?" a female voice called.

"Yeah, one sec." She called back.

Moving to the edge of the roof, Ranma grabbed the rail and pulled herself over. Following her momentum down she swung into the walkway that led to her own apartment to find a young woman of around 16 years standing at her door.

"You should close your mouth you know, you might catch a fly." Ranma smirked.

"But, how, what... How?" The young woman asked.

"They didnt fill you in on much huh?" Ranma cocked her head to the side, "Im a martial artist, 'nuff said," She walked forward and opened the door to the apartment, "well you coming in or what?"

"Of course, Saotome-san,"

"Please call me Ranma. We are about the same age after all."

"With all due respect sir you are technically 100 years older than me."

"More like 120 but all the same. We will be going to the same school and I am going to live out my life as a normal teen this time around so its Ranma, I insist." Ranma glared at her briefly.

"Of course Si... I mean Ranma." The young woman corrected herself in time to only get a quick glare from Ranma.

"So, Lucy was it?" Ranma asked.

"Lucy Katsuragi, at your service." She was about to salute when Ranma extended a hand to shake instead, slowly she took the offered hand and shook it firmly.

"Pleasure to meet you Lucy, any idea what machine you have been assigned?" She ushered her inside the apartment and away from any casual ears while she spoke, "Take a seat."

"I was doing trials in Unit 09 in Seoul prior to the.. accident... with my parents. But because of the Kyoto Treaty Japan is limited to its 3 Machines which means I am being assinged Unit 02," Lucy was still being too formal for Ranma's liking but she still saw her more as a superior than anything else so it would do, for now.

"If you don't mind my asking Si... I mean Ranma, why are the Eva Units being put back on active duty? With the Global United Nation that was established after the Tokyo 3 incident there are no more conflicts that require military might."

"And yet all individual states of the Global United Nation still keep standing armies," Ranma replied with a smirk "Not all threats to humanity are domestic or originate from Earth, Lucy, also my presence always brings trouble so for now the Commander is just being careful."

"I still don't understand, but ok," Lucy looked around the lounge, taking in the sparse fitting for the first time, "we really need to redecorate if you expect me to be staying here." She muttered under her breath.

"Feel free to do with this room and your own as you see fit Lucy," Ranma smiled at the look on her face, "I have good hearing. I dont need much to live so redecorate as you see fit, I will make sure you have money for whatever you need." Ranma got up and started towards the kitchen.

"Have you had any breakfast yet? I don't have much left, just some rice and some leftover Sashimi, but if you prefer western food, I think I have some cereal in one of the cupboards." Ranma called from the kitchen.

"Ah no, thank you, I had some breakfast before coming over."

"Oh and before you get settled in you should know something, im sure you were briefed on it but you need to see it anyway," Ranma said as she came back out with a glass of water in her hand, "I have a bit of a condition, it seem's to be bound to my life energy and not my body since this isn't my orginal body anymore." Without further explanation she dumped the water on herself and shifted back to male.

"Wah! B..b..but... How?!" Lucy had read about the change in her report but and thought it was a typo or something.

"No one outside of Nerve knows about this, I have managed to not change at school so far, if you want to be court marshaled feel free to tell who ever you like about it," Ranma was dead serious and his normal relaxed talking style was gone, "I still don't have complete control like I used to but it's only a matter of time before I regain that. Until then, no spoilers." With that Ranma walked back into the kitchen and left a stunned Lucy behind.

* * *

><p>Lucy had settled into her new room which only had a single bed and a chest of drawers for her to store her things in. '<em>I <em>really_ need to go shopping, Ranma is probably no help though.' _Thinking about Ranma reminded her of his demonstration just a short while ago. _'What the hell was up with that change? My old CO was right when he said to not everything can be explained by science.' _Thinking it over she decided not to worry about the issue for now since she knew enough of Ranma's story not to jump to a weird conclusion, resolve set she decided it was time to get some furniture organised.

Standing from where she sat on her bed Lucy decided to ask Ranma if he knew anyone who might be able to help decorate her room and the rest of the house. Leaving her room she heard voices coming from the living room.

"No, I wont be performing my active duties as sub-commander while at this age. You will have to keep going with what you have done for the last 100 years." The voice paused, obviously waiting for a reply.

"I don't care that im ignoring the chain of command. If the commander becomes unable to perform then I will step in, until then leave me alone unless it's in the capacity of a pilot." There was the distinct sound of a phone being slammed down. Lucy took this as her queue to enter the room.

"You don't have to eavesdrop you know Lucy, your security clearance is high enough for most conversations."

"I wasn't eavesdropping, Sir, I was..." Lucy paused in her explanation when she spotted Ranma's look at her, "ah sorry, Si... ummm Ranma, I just didn't want to interrupt anything important."

Ranma's expression softened and he smiled at her, "You need anything Lucy? I'm about to go out and do some food shopping for dinner."

"Well I wondered if you knew anyone I could ask about furniture, I don't know anyone in this city yet." Lucy blushed and looked at the floor boards. She _knew _he was over 100 years old but couldn't he at least look it? That smile sent all sorts of alarms off in her head.

Ranma for his part was still smiling at her, "Yeah, I know someone who might be able to help ya, Rei from school, she is the only one who knows who I really am, she should be able to help you out, I will give her a call." With that Ranma picked up the phone and pressed a quick couple of keys.

"Hey Rei, it's Ranma," he paused while the girl on the other end spoke,"yeah I know you didn't give me your number, whats the point in being who I am without being able to pull some strings." He looked a little sheepish for a moment before smiling again.

"Could ya please meet me an' ma new roommate at the mall? She needs some advice on furniture," cocking his head to the side and smiling wider he nodded, "great, well, see'ya in an hour."

Lucy looked at Ranma for a moment before deciding she didn't want to know why he seemed to have the number of a girl, who hadn't given it to him, on speed dial.

"How far is the mall from here, Ranma?" Lucy asked instead.

"Ummm... 'Bout fifteen min walk so we don't have to leave just yet."

"Ok, in that case im going to have a quick shower." Lucy turned to head back to her room as Ranma spoke up again.

"Just yell out the window when your ready ta go, i'm gonna head up to the roof to practice." With that he climbed out the window and flipped towards the roof, using the ledge as a swingpost, leaving Lucy to stare at the bizarre feat of acrobatics.

"That's going to take a bit of getting used too." she muttered before retreating to her room.

* * *

><p>Ranma sat in the middle of a circle he had painted on the roof the day before as a focus area. Nothing outside of the circle existed to him, slowly he felt the link between himself and Unit 01, the link that was keeping them both alive. Even after two months of studying the connection between himself and the Eva he still couldn't figure out a way to cut the connection so he could actually live a normal life.<p>

While that connection existed the Eva and himself were effectively immortal, one would always come back while the other existed. But if he cut the connection himself the chances of him spontaneously collapsing into a puddle of LCL were too high. He figured that the easiest solution was to just leave it for now and work on the metaphysics later.

Refocusing on his own body Ranma stood and started to move through a Kata. While the difference between his old body and his current ones were minimal it was still taking his older consciousness a while to adapt to the fresh muscles. In rebuilding his body this time he hadn't created the muscle memory that had once existed so he had to re-teach his whole body how to move.

"Ranma!" Lucy's voice drifted up to him from the apartment, "Ranma! Time to go."

Stopping mid kata Ranma took control of his breathing, which he was glad to say was under better control than a month ago, and started back towards the edge of the roof. "Be there in a sec, ya might wanna step back tho." He called down.

Giving Lucy a few seconds to move away Ranma leaned forwards over the ledge and let gravity take over. As he dropped down Ranma reached out to grab the top ledge of the open window and twisted his body, using the ledge as a pivot point he swung back into the window and landed lightly on his feet a couple of meters into the room.

Lucy stood to the side of the window with her mouth open and a slightly glazed expression on her face. Ranma smiled as his eye's took in her choice of clothing. She wore a pale green sundress that left her shoulders bare and white strapped sandles. Ranma couldn't help but be reminded of the yellow sundress that Asuka used to wear.

Aside from her red hair and clothing that is where the resemblance ended. Lucy had the dark brown eyes which spoke of her Japanese heritage and tanned skin which, despite numerous attempts to gain, Asuka never achieved. She also stood almost as tall as Ranma in male form while Asuka, even after growing up some more was never much taller than female Ranma.

"You just gonna stare at me all day or we gonna go?" Ranma asked as he moved towards the door.

Lucy shook herself and rushed to catch up with the martial artist, "How did you do that?" she demanded from behind him.

"I think you would call it basic physics in motion," Ranma smirked over his shoulder at the confused girl, "I like to call it martial arts."

"But you should have broken something... not just swing in like you were some mechanical joint..." Lucy still couldn't accept that he wasn't injured in any way without some form of mechanical aid.

"Well ya' know all 'bout basic pivots and momentum with force right?"

"Yeah I get how it works but I don't get how you didn't break your arm, fingers and any other bones."

"Ah that's what your hung up on, come on I will explain on the way," Ranma motioned for Lucy to go first and he shut the door behind him, giving the handle a quick twist to make sure it was locked before moving on, "I used ma Ki to reinforce my muscles and bones, plus it gave me extra friction and contact to swing myself around such a small ledge."

Lucy just looked at him, obviously not believing in what he was saying.

"Look, jus' take it as it is. People these days aint too used to super powered martial artists wandering the streets showing off Ki tricks so I will get you access to some of my old combat records."

"I don't see how hundred year old videos are going to be any help." Lucy sniffed, Ranma just laughed at her disdain.

"You are _SO _like her! Awww man' I wish..." A sad look passed over his face which Lucy didn't miss.

"Whats wrong Ranma?"

"I was going to say 'I wish Rei could see your face.'" Ranma said quietly.

Lucy had no response to that and so the pair walked the rest of the way to the mall in silence.

* * *

><p><strong>Tokyo-3, Sohryu Dedication Mall<strong>

Rei Wakada was waiting patiently at the spot where she had first met Ranma, she smiled at the memory of him grabbing her and running flat out through the mall and into the streets outside before Ranma finally admitted he had no idea where to hide. Looking up she spotted Ranma and what was obviously his flatmate and was surprised when she felt a spike of jealousy run through her, _'now why would I be jealous of Ranma living with another Pilot?' _Before she could examine the moment further Ranma spotted her and came jogging over.

"Hey Rei, good to see ya, sorry 'bout the phone thing... Mind if I keep your number?" He looked down and scratched the base of his pigtail nervously.

"That's fine, just don't do that to everyone you meet, others may not be as understanding," Rei smiled at him and was rewarded with a smile in return, she only just repressed a shiver that ran up her spine as she saw it, "So... Introduce me to your flatmate will you?"

Ranma blushed at needing to be reminded and turned to Lucy, "Lucy this is Rei Wakada, one of my classmates and friends," Lucy bowed to the blue haired girl, "Rei this is Lucy Katsuragi, one of the other Pilots, she just moved in today and deemed my lack of furniture unacceptable."

"Unacceptable? More like non-existant! He has a table with two chairs, thats about it." Lucy laughed as Ranma blushed again.

"Oh dear, well lets fix that shall we? Come on I know a great store, you will love it Lucy."

Ranma could only groan as he followed the two girls deeper into the mall.

**Tokyo-3, Ikari Complex**

Ranma stumbled through the front door carrying several large bags of food in one hand and dragging a small table behind him with the other. Finally coming to a stop in the dining area he dumped the bags on the table and gently set the low table on its legs.

"I still dunno why you insisted we take this table today. We could have just had it dropped off with the rest tomorrow." Ranma complained for the umpteenth time.

"Because what else are we going to rest the new TV on?" Lucy replied as she followed him in with her own bags of groceries, "at least you spotted this security grunt to carry it for us, and give us a lift home."

Said security agent was diligently ignoring being called a grunt and walked past them both to place the TV set in the living area. Ranma glanced at him before deciding to follow him with the table.

"Whats your name?" He asked as the man turned to face him.

"Hibiki, Sir!" The agent said with a salute.

"No need to salute me in my home, Hibiki-san, it's hats off here. Thank you for your help today, how long have you been with the company?"

"I graduated from Tokyo-3 MHS #5 at top of my class in logistics, information and combat, Saotome-sama," Ranma winced but let the honorific slide, "I was drafted straight out of school into the Beta-corps in China 12 years ago and managed a transfer to Alpha in Tokyo-3 just 4years ago."

Ranma nodded and stepped up to the man, "Alright time to make some infrastructure changes at home, give me your radio Hibiki-san," the man did so and watched as Ranma expertly flicked channels into the command frequency, "This is Sub-commander Saotome, authorization code Alpha-Charlie-Zulu-Oh-One-slash-Two-Whisky-House, acknowledge."

There was a pause while the radio operator on the other end verified the code.

"Code accepted, who would you like to speak with Sub-commander?" A chirpy female voice replied.

"Tell the commander im about to do some in-house shopping and I want to talk budget with her tomorrow." Ranma replied.

"Confirmed, I will pass that along, anything else Sir."

"That will be all, Ranma out," He handed the radio back to Hibiki, "when does your watch end today?"

"At 0100, Sir."

"That wont do, I need you in a car at my front door at 0700, you are now my driver for official business, my part-time student and Lucy's self-defence teacher, you clock off now. Call it in and I will see you tomorrow morning." Ranma ordered.

"Sir, yes, Sir!" Hibiki snapped a quick salute and made out the front door while quickly talking into his radio.

"Lucy!" Ranma called from the lounge.

"Yeah, Ranma?" The redhead asked from the kitchen.

"Do you have any idea how to set one of these up? I always had someone else do it?"

"One hundred and twenty years old and you can't plug-in a TV? Now that's funny," Lucy laughed at Ranma as he mumbled something about know-it-all redheads, "I will do this you go get the kitchen sorted then ok." She smiled at him after finally calming her laughing fit.

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

><p><strong>There will be more to this story sooner or later, please leave a review giving more ideas on how you think I should develop it. Since I post as I write my grammar sucks but the story will be able to take in ideas from its readers.<strong>

**Ja Ne**

**Mority**


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